You should add Island Family Magazine's website http://www.islandfamilymagazine.ca to your list. A full pdf of each issue is available, as well as a searchable calendar app with over 800 family-friendly events going on each season.

Island Family Magazine offers great parenting tips, information and events all from a local perspective.

Well, hello again to all of you.I've written on this board some time ago, concerning our move to PEI. Well, I am pleased to let you all know that we've received our permanent resident cards and will be able to move to PEI in march 2011!We've landed as permanent residents in november 2010 and were able to visit PEI in the snow!Our home in The Netherlands is now for sale, we've sold almost all of our stuff, so there's a lot going on in our lives right now. But, now we need a place to live on PEI. For starters, we would like to rent a cottage, for a month or six weeks, because it is furnished. We will arrive on PEI with only our luggage, our other personal belongings are at that time on a boat to Halifax, that will take some time, and we don't have any furniture...

Also, by renting a short term cottage, we can explore the Island a little more and find a long term rental. I've checked Kijiji and usedpei, but surprisingly I can't post an ad on Kijiji, or react on posted ones. I don't know why, maybe it is a Dutch thing, or my Dutch e-mail isn't recognized So, I'm trying this board to get some help.We would really like to start in Bluefield school district and we will need internet. Does anyone know who is willing to rent us their cottage, or do you have something available yourself, please let us know.

I've had the same trouble posting to Kijiji from outside of Canada. They're pretty picky about where you are when you post. I had to email back and forth with them to get an ad approved. I kindly pointed out that the ad says we're out of the country and we need a new house sitter to replace the one who's leaving, so yes, I AM outside of the country right now! So if you really do want to place an ad, then when you get the rejection email and it says "if you feel your ad was rejected in error, do this" then do that. Otherwise, you can always ask someone here in Canada to post for you.

In the event you can't find a rental (though I would suspect eventually you will!), Slemon Park in the Summerside area gave us a very good monthly rate when we put our house sitter up there over the summer (while we were home and wanted our house back). We tried calling a lot of places, but since it was summer it was difficult to get any deals. So worst case, that's a hotel where you can probably negotiate a monthly rate comparable to cheap rent. We didn't find any other hotel/furnished accommodation that came close to those rates. (Again, totally understandable because they can make so much more off of vacationers in the summer.)

We're looking into relocating to PEI from Vancouver Island, BC. I've gone through the 'moving to PEI' threads, but have some additional questions as we'd be coming with a 6yr old, 3 yr old and a 1yr old. Our oldest would be starting Gr. 1. Are there any schools that you would recommend (or additionally advise us to avoid)? It is wiser to consider French Immersion vs. English track? Do you need to have French for finding work etc? Would you recommend Eastern or Western areas?

We'd like to get an idea about schools before we start looking at houses.

I know Athena is a very popular school in Summerside. It's grades 1 - 9 but no French immersion. West Royalty Elementary School is also very popular. It's grades 1-6 located in Charlottetown. There is also a new subdivision beside the school with homes for sale or you could build.

Just wanted to let you know that we moved to PEI in march. Everything went perfect. We've found a cottage in Cumberland where we're staying right now. Getting something winterized wasn't easy and most cottage owners are not so keen on pets, but we've managed to found something. But soon we'll be moving to our own home in Ebenezer. We had our eye on that house for a few months when we still lived in The Netherlands and we were lucky that it still was for sale when we arrived. My husband found a job, allthough he and his boss agreed on trying out for a week. But he has several other offers in construction.My son started school, that took some time because of the English Assessment test, but he's in school for a few weeks now at Central Queens and just loving it. We still have a lot of starting up to do, and sometimes small things can get frustrating (like having to do your driving test all over again, when you've been driving for 14 years). And we still need to find out where to get what we need, like wood or dirt to highen our lawn, or pretty furniture. Or sometimes when someone is selling fresh eggs or vegetables from their land I don't know if it's appropiate to just walk in. Or what people mean when they are using slang... Stuff that most people know, except for us, because we're foreign. But overall I must say, so far so good! We'll get the hang of it, we haven't met an unfriendly islander yet, so we'll just ask.

Welcome to PEI Anneke & family. Ebenezer is a very pretty part of the Island, especially in the summer time. From my experience, if people have signs advertizing produce for sale etc. then they would expect people to drop in to look them over and buy them.

Just a word to be careful when driving on PEI's rural roads in farming territory. Be on the lookout for tractors, hay wagons etc and winding curves and dangerous intersections.

If you have any questions a good idea is to contact the new immigrants society or visit the PEI Government website. Hope you enjoy your new home and the Island way of life.

_________________Opinions are personal, and everybody is entitled to voice them.

This is a great list. Another helpful resource is CanPages.ca. There are recommendations on everything from restaurants, services, etc. And they have a map feature to pinpoint location which is helpful if you are new to PEI.

Wow. Sounds like everyone is doing quite well moving to pei. We are considering the big move from Ont. I am taking a trip to the island next week to look at about a dozen houses or so. I will know much better after that trip what will happen. My husband is a truck driver and am a psw. I think we should be able to find some work once there...fingers crossed...

My mom is from the island. We spent most every summer in Summerside. It really is my 2nd home. I love it there. Can't wait to just go for the weekend and look at houses.

Wow. Sounds like everyone is doing quite well moving to pei. We are considering the big move from Ont. I am taking a trip to the island next week to look at about a dozen houses or so. I will know much better after that trip what will happen. My husband is a truck driver and am a psw. I think we should be able to find some work once there...fingers crossed...

My mom is from the island. We spent most every summer in Summerside. It really is my 2nd home. I love it there. Can't wait to just go for the weekend and look at houses.

Wow. Sounds like everyone is doing quite well moving to pei. We are considering the big move from Ont. I am taking a trip to the island next week to look at about a dozen houses or so. I will know much better after that trip what will happen. My husband is a truck driver and am a psw. I think we should be able to find some work once there...fingers crossed...

My mom is from the island. We spent most every summer in Summerside. It really is my 2nd home. I love it there. Can't wait to just go for the weekend and look at houses.

Nice to hear from someone who is thinking of moving to the island from Ontario!! And a PSW at that! I am an RPN, and we are thinking of the same thing. Certainly you are way ahead of us, because we haven't even looked at houses yet. Hopefully, next year. Good luck with your house hunting. That can be alot of fun!

Hi everyone, new here and been browsing info to see if PEI is he right choice for a move. I have just spent the last 5 yrs as a full time caregiver for my parents. With both having passed away and my husband's son 2 yrs away from finishing high school we have been looking for someplace to go where we can retire at some point. Obviously we want to make the move before retirement so that we can establish ourselves. I've read a lot of posts about the negatives (and the positives too) and so far the negatives haven't appeared to me as being unusual. The snobbery towards CFA? well I've dealt with discrimination in m life many times...you can get that anywhere for all sorts of reasons. Shortage of Dr.s? I moved cities here in Ontario and a one point I went 3 years without a family Dr. People knowing everything about you and things being on a different timeline than the big city? I live in Ingersoll, Ontario population 11,000...pretty much 'small town atmosphere' and it doesn't bother me. As for winters...well I can show you pictures where we have shovelled the driveway so many times that the snow is reaching the top of my front window and blocking out the light. Power outages...yeah we get them here regularly (3 hours two weeks ago) and we have a generator for that. Not being accepted as an 'islander', well, I suppose that's okay because we are home bodies and keep to ourselves most of the time anyway. So why do I want to move? I don't think I can survive in Ontario financially when I'm on pension. The taxes are ridiclous and I'll still be paying my mortgage when I'm 90. We want to buy a hobby farm and live of the grid and be as self sufficient as possible in a place where the air is cleaner and things are a little quieter and relaxing. Am I barking up the wrong tree? So many people seem intent on saying the 'come from aways' are hard pressed to make it there.

I think that the whole 'being from away is haaaard' thing gets blown a touch out of proportion sometimes. I'm from Ontario, and can't remember a time when someone said something to me about it as any more than a joke. You get out of it what you put into it. If you're friendly and a decent person, I find you get that back.

I don't find the winters any tougher (and I'm from fairly near your neck of the woods), but Summer takes its sweet time getting started.

_________________“Honesty is the best policy, but there are other good ones, too.” - Jeffrey McDaniel

Hi everyone, new here and been browsing info to see if PEI is he right choice for a move. I have just spent the last 5 yrs as a full time caregiver for my parents. With both having passed away and my husband's son 2 yrs away from finishing high school we have been looking for someplace to go where we can retire at some point. Obviously we want to make the move before retirement so that we can establish ourselves. I've read a lot of posts about the negatives (and the positives too) and so far the negatives haven't appeared to me as being unusual. The snobbery towards CFA? well I've dealt with discrimination in m life many times...you can get that anywhere for all sorts of reasons. Shortage of Dr.s? I moved cities here in Ontario and a one point I went 3 years without a family Dr. People knowing everything about you and things being on a different timeline than the big city? I live in Ingersoll, Ontario population 11,000...pretty much 'small town atmosphere' and it doesn't bother me. As for winters...well I can show you pictures where we have shovelled the driveway so many times that the snow is reaching the top of my front window and blocking out the light. Power outages...yeah we get them here regularly (3 hours two weeks ago) and we have a generator for that. Not being accepted as an 'islander', well, I suppose that's okay because we are home bodies and keep to ourselves most of the time anyway. So why do I want to move? I don't think I can survive in Ontario financially when I'm on pension. The taxes are ridiclous and I'll still be paying my mortgage when I'm 90. We want to buy a hobby farm and live of the grid and be as self sufficient as possible in a place where the air is cleaner and things are a little quieter and relaxing. Am I barking up the wrong tree? So many people seem intent on saying the 'come from aways' are hard pressed to make it there.

If that is your goal then I don't see you having any problems here. I would suggest that you find an area of the island that costs less to live tho. What you pay for a place in one community can be so much different than another. If you are going to pretty much have an off the grid life, then I don't see why you would need to be that close to the city...IMO